Eric Brubaker Archives - �� News

Alumni impact, influence, and inspire at TenTalks

Ryan Cornell with photos by Caleb Swortzel — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:11:59 +0000

�� hosted its annual TenTalks event Saturday afternoon, featuring Alumni of the Year Eric Brubaker ’01 and Trent Wagler ’02 of The Steel Wheels, Distinguished Service Award recipient Cynthia Lapp ’86, and Outstanding Young Alum Award recipient Kirk Livers ’11. Each had 10 minutes to impact, influence, and inspire the crowd.

Eric Brubaker ’01

Brubaker is a founding member of The Steel Wheels, which has performed at venues and festivals across the country for over two decades. Through the band, he hosts the Red Wing Roots Music Festival and Red Wing Academy, a four-day strings camp for youth. In 2024, he and his wife, Peggy ’00, formed a nonprofit to provide scholarships to academy students.

A tune is an ephemeral thing that lasts only as long as it’s being played, and it’s never played exactly the same way twice, Brubaker said.

“How can something so malleable and fragile last so long?” he asked.

Brubaker described how, as recording technology became more portable, folklorists traveled to rural communities to document the music of banjo and fiddle players, hoping to preserve a uniquely American musical tradition.

“They treated the tunes and even the practitioners as artifacts, something to be kept, untouched, and collected,” he said. “But this music was never fixed. It was always an evolving ferment of sounds and cultures.”

Brubaker recalled learning violin through the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music program and playing his first fiddle tunes on the �� campus. After years of performing across the country with The Steel Wheels and other roots musicians, he said he has come to understand traditional music as a living, evolving language.

“It’s a tradition of gathering, remembering, dancing, and sharing,” he said. “It’s a tradition worth preserving but you can’t preserve it by keeping it still.”

Trent Wagler ’02

Wagler is a founding member of The Steel Wheels, which has toured internationally and will on Sunday. In 2025, he co-founded Rocktown House of Music, a community music school in Harrisonburg. He previously taught songwriting at �� and holds degrees in theater and peace, justice, and conflict studies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when music venues across the country shut down, The Steel Wheels began writing and recording personalized songs for fans and friends through a project called Over two years, the band produced more than 120 original songs.

“We kind of became this little song factory within the band where one day we’d be writing a song for somebody’s anniversary, the next day it would be for somebody’s birthday or maybe for a memorial,” Wagler said.

With recent advances in artificial intelligence, anyone can now generate a song without contacting a musician, he said. But producing a finished song was never the point of the project.

“The goal of our project was never to deliver the perfect song,” he said. “It was to connect with someone’s story, to sit with that, to process it into a song in our own little Steel Wheels way, and it’s that process I think these tools could be really stealing from us.”

Wagler compared the creative process to taking a memorable vacation and hanging a photograph from the trip on the wall.

“You have that picture, but you don’t just want the picture,” he said. “You want to have gone on the trip. You want to have had the adventure.”

Cynthia Lapp ’86

A music education graduate, Lapp taught music, performed in the Washington D.C. area, and helped direct the �� Washington Semester program. She also worked with the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER) and graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2003. She has served as pastor of Hyattsville Mennonite Church in Maryland since 2003.

Lapp spoke about the importance of showing up for others, particularly those whose voices and experiences are too often overlooked.

Whether supporting LGBTQ+ members of her congregation, caring for her children, standing alongside vulnerable and marginalized communities in the Washington D.C. area, advocating for Palestinians, or supporting immigrant neighbors, she said, “showing up is a matter of wholeness for all of us.”

Lapp reflected on the Mennonite tradition of supporting others within the congregation and the importance of extending that same commitment beyond church walls.

“We’re beginning to understand that our own peace and liberation is woven together with our neighbors near and far,” she said.

Showing up, she emphasized, doesn’t require having all the answers or taking the lead.

“It doesn’t even mean we have to be in the streets,” she said. “Showing up means we are committed to our collective liberation. Our shared futures depend on each of us showing up.”

Kirk Livers ’11

After graduating with a degree in biochemistry and a minor in music, Livers worked for the Humane Society of Washington County (Maryland) before earning a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Shenandoah University in 2018. A nationally certified physician assistant, he has served patients in his hometown of Hagerstown, Maryland, since 2020, providing care in a medically underserved community.

Livers recalled arriving at �� in 2007 with his “whole life planned out.” After graduating with a biochemistry degree in 2011, he intended to attend medical school and become a physician.

“However, as we all know, life happens,” he said. “And quickly, my neat and detailed plan was derailed by the great equalizer, disease.”

Around the time of his graduation, his mother began experiencing shoulder pain that initially seemed like a cold settling into her body. The pain spread and eventually interfered with everyday activities. She was diagnosed with lupus and began trying different medications to manage her symptoms.

During one medical appointment, Livers recalled, a provider stopped taking notes, took his mother’s hands, and expressed sympathy for what she was experiencing.

“It was a really simple gesture, but it was the first time that someone beyond her family had shown her compassion and empathy for what she was feeling,” Livers said. “She didn’t dismiss my mom or label her as drug-seeking. She simply listened.”

That moment helped shape the kind of medical professional he wanted to become.

“I knew that day that if I ever was able to make it as a medical provider, I wanted my patients to feel the exact way my mom and I felt at that appointment.”

Livers said his experiences at �� strengthened his empathy and helped him recognize the importance of connecting with patients as people first.

“There is far more that connect us as humans than divides us, and my patients show me that every day,” he said. “Remember that we are all connected, regardless of our circumstances. To me, practicing medicine is remembering that we are all a part of this community and we must remember to care for one another, just as �� cared for me.”

Watch a recording of the event below!

2026 Alum of the Year Award: Eric Brubaker ’01

Ryan Cornell — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

This is the first of four profiles about the recipients of ��’s 2026 Alumni Awards. For more information about the annual awards and a full list of past winners, visit emu.edu/alumni/awards.

Eric Brubaker ’01, fiddler and founding member of the folk-rock band The Steel Wheels, jokes that he owes his touring career to ��.

The social work major performed in the �� Orchestra and choir and toured Cuba with the Chamber Singers. Music had always been an important part of his life, but he never imagined it would become his profession.

When he and four other students formed a bluegrass band called Reuben’s Potted Ferns during his junior year, ��’s Admissions Office sent the group on a 10-day recruiting tour during the spring of 2000. The band played 16 shows, primarily at Mennonite schools and churches throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“So, I blame �� for starting off my touring career,” Brubaker said with a laugh.

After graduating, he quickly realized that a career in social work was not for him. He returned to music, joining fellow �� alumni Trent Wagler ’02 and Brian Dickel ’98 and Goshen College graduate Jay Lapp to form what would become .

More than two decades, two additional band members, and over a dozen studio albums later, Brubaker and his bandmates have carved out a successful career as musicians.

“I know that’s a hard thing to do, and �� gave me a great starting place for that,” Brubaker said. “I was allowed to find myself here. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be, and here I was able to study different things but also continue to play music.”

He said his time in the Chamber Singers under Professor Emeritus Dr. Kenneth J. Nafziger taught him the importance of listening to the people he performs with.

“You can’t have a band that lasts for 20 years without truly listening to each other: on stage, off stage, musically, and relationally,” he said.

Beyond performing, Brubaker uses music to bring people together and build community. He is a co-founder of the , hosted annually by the band in nearby Mount Solon, Virginia, which has featured artists including Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucinda Williams, and Steve Earle.

He also hosts , a four-day music camp at �� that teaches roughly 140 students ages 5 to 19—adults joined the program for the first time this year—to play string instruments. Participants perform on stage with The Steel Wheels during the music festival.

“Music creates a moment where everyone is focusing on the same thing,” he said. “It’s not politics. It’s not religion. It’s just a gathering of humanity that wants to celebrate something beautiful.”

Brubaker’s commitment to connecting communities through music has earned him ��’s 2026 Alum of the Year Award. The award recognizes alumni for significant achievements in their profession, community, or church and serves to inspire others to lead lives of service and vocational excellence.

“I’m honored,” he said. “There are so many people who have done amazing work, and so many people working hard behind the scenes who never receive acclaim.”

The community Brubaker has spent years helping build became especially meaningful in 2019, when he and his wife lost their young daughter, Norah, to a sudden illness.

“We were surrounded not only by our artistic community, the people who loved the band and the music we made, but also by the community surrounding �� and the larger Mennonite community,” he said. “They were incredibly supportive.”

Today, Brubaker and his wife, Peggy ’00, are continuing their commitment to making music accessible. They recently formed the nonprofit Red Wing Academy Foundation, which provides scholarships for students to attend the camp.

“It’s been amazing to connect with people who want to help pass music on to a younger generation,” he said.

The Steel Wheels will perform a live show on campus at the annual Royal City Celebration from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, during Homecoming 2026.

Brubaker will share his story at �� TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. in Martin Chapel, also during Homecoming. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.

Suzuki Strings camp adds workshop: learn tunes and jam with The Steel Wheels at Red Wing Roots Music Festival

Lauren Jefferson — Thu, 07 May 2015 20:47:26 +0000

Young musicians in a special summer fiddle camp hosted by the �� will end their week-long workshop by jamming on stage with at the at Natural Chimneys.

The traditional final concert on campus will also take place, but what better way to show off new skills and enjoy new friendships than to hop on stage with fellow violinist Eric Brubaker ’01 and one of the finest Americana roots bands in the country in front of hundreds of fans at a music festival.

The Steel Wheels Fiddle Workshop is a new addition to the program’s Suzuki Strings Day Camp, now in its eighth year and typically attracting approximately 30 youth violinists. The strings day camp, from July 29-July 2 on the �� campus, has a range of classes depending on age and skill level.

Children ages 3-7 have two-hour lessons, while intermediate and advanced students can participate in a longer Day Camp, for ages 12 and under, or Multi-Styles Teen Camp, for pre-college musicians. Both of these camps include the special afternoon workshop, which youth musicians can also sign up for separately.

The collaboration between ��’s preparatory music program, The Steel Wheels, and the Red Wing Roots Festival “came about very organically through a shared vision,” said Megan Tiller ’07, who teaches in the program and has been on the festival staff since its inaugural year in 2013.

Tiller also teaches Brubaker’s daughter in the preparatory music program, and Brubaker himself is an alumnus of the same program, which makes his participation all the more meaningful to young musicians, she said.

Benefits of camp participation are multifold, says preparatory music program administrative director , who also teaches violin. Playing for several hours each day with friends and with different teachers not only motivates and inspires students, but also causes “a new familiarity with their instrument that takes them to a new level,” she said.

The Steel Wheels (from left) include Brian Dickel, �� class of ’98; Trent Wagler ’02; Eric Brubaker ’01, and Jay Lapp. Members of the band will guest instruct at the fiddle workshop, then include students in a performance at the Red Wing Roots Music Festival July 10. (Courtesy photo)

The Steel Wheels workshop “will provide a window into what a band does and how they do it,” she said. “And just being around professional musicians, hearing their sound and watching their technique inspires students.”

During the workshop, Brubaker will guest instruct, joined by Trent Wagler ’02 and Brian Dickel, class of ’98. A special performance will be Thursday on campus with The Steel Wheels, followed by a jam session and performance on July 10 at the Red Wing Roots Festival (where fourth band member Jay Lapp joins). Admission to the festival and a t-shirt are included in the fee for students. Parents are offered a reduced-price day pass to the festival.

The deadline for registration is June 4. For more information, visit .

Thousands throng to new music festival made possible by many folks with ties to ��

Andrew Jenner — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 16:13:13 +0000

From a headlining act to the bike-powered recycling effort, from a group of staff and volunteers to the tent distributing Menno Tea to hundreds of friends and alumni, �� and its graduates helped make the second annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival a success.

Close to 3,000 people attended each day of the festival, July 11-13, 2014, at Natural Chimneys Park in Mt. Solon, Virginia. First held in the summer of 2013, the Red Wing festival is hosted by The Steel Wheels, a nationally known roots music band that features three alumni: Trent Wagler ’02, Eric Brubaker ’01 and Brian Dickel, class of ’98. (The fourth band member, Jay Lapp, attended ��’s sister Mennonite school in Indiana, Goshen College, for a time.)

After enjoying performing at other festivals across the country since they started touring seriously around 2010, members of The Steel Wheels began thinking about ways to create a new festival in the Shenandoah Valley.

“We wanted it to be rooted in community and informed by our upbringing,” said Brubaker after Red Wing ended this year. “We wanted a family-friendly event where we would be proud to bring our own children and expose them to many different kinds of authentic musical expression.”

The band partnered with Black Bear Productions, a local event production company, and began planning well over a year in advance for the first event. Their vision was realized in a multi-generational, community-focused festival that has brought dozens of performers and thousands of visitors for a long weekend of music on four stages at Natural Chimneys, about 20 miles south of ��’s campus.

“The exciting thing is that all [our] dreams and more are already being fulfilled,” Brubaker added. “It’s amazing that so many people from our community are investing time, creativity and resources to make the festival a true success.”

Jeremiah Jenkins, a managing partner of Black Bear Productions, said the welcoming, friendly atmosphere at the festival is one of its special characteristics.

“Red Wing has fans of all ages. This sets a certain tone of respect and appreciation among the crowd, and that collective enjoyment really fuels us all weekend,” he said. “Red Wing brings out both the seasoned festivarian and the first-timers, and together we create our own festival culture. We’re proud of the Red Wing fans, volunteers and staff that treat the park and each other with such conscientiousness.”

After noticing how many �� alums attended the first festival, the university signed on as an official sponsor in 2014. Throughout the weekend, advancement staff passed out tea and connected with hundreds of alumni, prospective students and other festival-goers.

�� and Red Wing organizers also collaborated to minimize the amount of trash generated at the festival. The festival banned the sale of plastic water bottles and required visitors to bring or purchase a reusable steel cup to use at the free water station and in the beer garden, Jenkins said. Food vendors were also required to use renewable, recycled or compostable materials for all service items.

Aware of ��’s commitment to sustainability, Black Bear Productions hired �� sustainability coordinator Jonathan Lantz-Trissel ’00 to oversee trash and recycling collection during the weekend. He and his team of volunteers collected well over 1,000 pounds of recyclable materials and 500 pounds of food waste to add to ��’s compost piles.

“When people congratulate me on the festival, I always say that it takes a village,” Jenkins said. “We’re so glad that �� is part of ours, from the alumni office and sustainability team to the many �� alumni that bring their families each year.”

In addition to The Steel Wheels, about 40 other bands performed this year at Red Wing, including The Walking Roots Band, first formed under another name at ��. Six of the eight members are �� graduates: Lauren ’09 and Mitch Yoder ’09, Jackson Maust ’09, Kristina Yoder ’09, Adam Schmid ’09 and Seth Crissman ’09, MDiv ’15. Crissman also said the welcoming feel to the festival was important to the group.

“Something we care about a lot is being able to create and share music that is fun for everyone. There was a broad range of ages at Red Wing, and music brings all these people together,” he said. “In making music in this roots-folk tradition, we draw nourishment from those who have come before and, hopefully, pass it on to those who will come after us. It was a lot fun to be able to listen to and enjoy other musicians doing the same thing at Red Wing. It was exciting to see so many people excited about roots and folk music, especially local music.”

Another band performing at Red Wing, Ragged Mountain String Band, featured Reuben Miller ’00 on fiddle.

The third Red Wing Roots Music Festival will likely be held on the second weekend in July 2015, with exact dates to be announced soon on the festival’s website and Facebook page. In the meantime, Brubaker said, The Steel Wheels will be recording a new album that will be ready in time for next year’s event.

Thousands throng to new music festival made possible by many folks with close ties to ��

Andrew Jenner — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 02:47:02 +0000

From a headlining act to the bike-powered recycling effort, from a group of staff and volunteers to the tent distributing to hundreds of friends and alumni, �� and its graduates helped make the second annual a success.

Close to 3,000 people attended each day of the festival, July 11-13, 2014, at in Mt. Solon, Virginia. First held in the summer of 2013, the Red Wing festival is hosted by , a nationally known roots music band that features three alumni: Trent Wagler ’02, Eric Brubaker ’01 and Brian Dickel, class of ’98. (The fourth band member, Jay Lapp, attended ��’s sister Mennonite school in Indiana, Goshen College, for a time.)

After enjoying performing at other festivals across the country since they began touring seriously around 2010, members of The Steel Wheels began thinking about ways to create a new festival in the Shenandoah Valley.

Family friendly, honoring community roots

The Steel Wheels (RubySky Photography)

Jeremiah Jenkins, a managing partner of Black Bear Productions, said the welcoming, friendly atmosphere at the festival is one of its special characteristics.

�� was official sponsor

After noticing how many �� alumni attended the first festival, the university signed on as an official sponsor this year. Throughout the weekend, advancement staff passed out tea and connected with hundreds of alumni, prospective students and other festival-goers.

Volunteer Ben Roth Shank ’10 used an �� recycling bicycle to collect recyclables as part of the festival’s Green Team. �� 10 alumni worked in various roles at the festival as volunteers or staff.

Aware of ��’s commitment to sustainability, Black Bear Productions hired �� sustainability coordinator Jonathan Lantz-Trissel to oversee trash and recycling collection during the weekend. He and his team of volunteers collected well over 1,000 pounds of recyclable materials and 500 pounds of food waste to add to ��’s compost piles

Dozens of bands on four stages

In addition to The Steel Wheels, about 40 other bands performed this year at Red Wing, including , first formed under another name at ��. Six of the eight members are �� graduates: Lauren ’09 and Mitch Yoder ’09, Jackson Maust ’09, Kristina Yoder ’09, Adam Schmid ’09 and Seth Crissman ’09, MDiv ’15. Crissman also said the welcoming feel to the festival was important to the group.

Another band performing at Red Wing, , featured Reuben Miller ’00 on fiddle.

The third Red Wing Roots Music Festival will likely be held on the second weekend in July 2015, with exact dates to be announced soon on the festival’s and page. In the meantime, Brubaker said, The Steel Wheels will be recording a new album that will be ready in time for next year’s event.

At third annual Walk for Hope, �� alumni to perform and speak in support of depression and suicide awareness

Lauren Jefferson — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:18:24 +0000

are cruising into �� from a Northeast tour on Saturday, March 29, just in time for a cause close to their hearts. A few years ago, songwriter and lead singer Trent Wagler ’02 wrote “Lay Down Lay Low,” based on the true story of a friend who contemplated suicide but did not go through with it. That song, the title track of the Steel Wheels’ 2012 album, will surely be on the playlist Saturday afternoon during the .

Walk For Hope unites students from Blue Ridge Community College, Bridgewater College, �� and James Madison University to raise awareness about depression and suicide. The walk and all afternoon activities are free and open to the public. People whose lives have been affected by mental illness, either personally or through friends and family, are especially encouraged to attend.

Organizers predict this year’s event will be especially powerful. The Steel Wheels, which include Eric Brubaker ’01, Brian Dickel ’98, and Jay Lapp, are also bringing that special friend on stage to share the story of his struggles with depression and past abuse, and how he came to make a different, life-saving choice. Keith Morris ’83 is past president and current board member of the , which addresses child sexual abuse in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

“The prevailing message of the event is hope,” said planning committee member , who mentors �� students in her positions with and . “It’s really moving to be a part of it, to see everyone supporting each other.”

The event kicks off at 11:30 a.m. with a 2.2-mile walk from JMU’s Memorial Hall in downtown Harrisonburg along High Street/Virginia Avenue to the �� campus. In the past, walkers and an administrator from each school marched separately to a common location, but this year, in a show of solidarity, all will walk together. Walk For Hope T-shirts, free to pre-registered participants, will be brightly tie-dyed in school colors.

Organizers expect close to 1,000 participants to congregate at ��’s Thomas Plaza around 12:30 p.m. for an afternoon of music, creativity, and sharing. The concert begins at 1 p.m. Other activities include children’s face-painting and games, drumming, and opportunities to create remembrance art. As in past years, participants can decorate and take home personal garden stones and add squares to the “Symbols of Hope” quilt. This year’s special community project will be decorating large wooden letters that spell “Walk for Hope.”

Since it began in 2012, Walk for Hope has increased in size each year. That growth may come as the result of a tragic fact: Most college students know someone who has suffered from depression or anxiety, contemplated suicide or died by suicide. The second leading cause of death among college students is suicide, according to a 2012 study by the . reports that depression and anxiety are more common among college students than back pain, sinus ailments, and allergies.

Raising awareness and providing support are two goals of the , which co-sponsors Walk for Hope and also funds an innovative mentoring program at �� called CoachLink. The program began after Austin Frazier, a junior at James Madison University, died in 2009 after a long battle with bipolar disorder.

“This CoachLink program and Walk for Hope were concepts presented to local colleges by his father, Bibb Frazier,” says Hostetler, one of five coaches in the CoachLink program. “Both are ways to honor Austin’s memory, to acknowledge that there is hope for all those who experience the effects of depression and suicidal thoughts, and to provide support and resources to students who may need it.” Bibb Frazier is the owner of the nearby , which supplied limestone seen on ��’s buildings and grounds.

In 2010, CoachLink began with 15 students and three mentors. Now five coaches are paired with more than 50 students, some of whom probably would never see a counselor because of “stigma and anxiety or past history,” says coach Crystal Horning, a counselor with more than 25 years experience in the mental health field. “The informality of our meeting places and the kind of supportive relationship we have is almost more freeing, I think, for a student to talk about really challenging issues.”

Hostetler says Walk for Hope has successfully created a similar informal and positive atmosphere for educating and raising awareness. “From that first year, we wanted the focus to be on hope,” she said. “We wanted to create the right atmosphere that is comfortable, so people feel free to walk for someone they’ve lost or someone who considered suicide, but didn’t do it. We wanted people to leave feeling hopeful and comfortable talking about depression and suicide, because it’s not something people talk about or admit they’ve struggled with.”

The event is co-sponsored by the Austin Frazier Memorial Fund, ��, JMU, Bridgewater College, and Sentara RMH Behavioral Health.

To receive a free t-shirt, pre-register at .

Eric Brubaker Archives - ���������� News